The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, Third Edition Review

This book is the basic natural healing book to have in the house. Backed by real scientific research, the authors both educate and advice you how to use natural options to heal.

This book's aim is to give you the reader a perfect balance between the latest research and age-old wisdom so you can either research further and/or ask the right questions of your doctors.

We first got this book when it was in its 2nd revision and found it one of the best reference books on health and research that was available at the time of its writting.

As the years past, the book was still one of the premier book on health you could find, but after 20+ years it was getting out of date with the latest research. Still it was one of the best natural medicine and our go to book when I need to check into any illnesses in the family.

The long awaited 3rd edition has been completely revised and expanded to include more resent research and other pertinent findings in the intermediate years.

This book is regarded by many natural health practitioners as the bible of natural medicine.

How we came to buy this reference book

We first got this book on the advise of our local health food store owner, who said this was the best all round book of Natural Medicine and we have found it to be so. If you are even the slightest bit interested in exploring natural alternatives to treating/healing common maladies (and some not so common illnesses) then this book is an absolute must.

The book is exceptional well organized, well researched (complete with references), very professional,and extremely helpful.

We are not medical trained, but we found the information very accessible and easy to understand, yet not too simplistic, just clear straightforward trustworthy information that we could implement easily.

The perfect balance between the latest research and age-old wisdom

On the back cover this book claims to be "The perfect balance between the latest research and age-old wisdom" and indeed I found it to be so in general.

This is not just an Encyclopedia of natural remedies, but bring a lot of medical knowledge and research both modern and age-old into many illnesses.

The most helpful aspect for me when reading through The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by Michael T Murray and Joseph Pizzorn is how the authors not only tell you what to look out for and possible remedies, but they also offer a lot of relevant research into the various illnesses and the success various treatment have had in each case. This is can be a stepping stone, especially in the case of serious ailments, into research on your part and to bring to the attention of your medical practitioner into safer alternative treatments.

Dr Murry talking about the difference between conventional medicine and the natural approach

The three key Supplements Dr Murrry Advises Everyone to Take

DR Murry says a High Concentrated Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil is probably the one most important supplement to take.

They are:

A High Potency Multivitamin/Mineral Formula

The vitamins and minerals work in our body as components of enzymes - Each enzyme has a function, either to build or breakdown other molecules - they do this with the aid of the minerals and vitamins we consume.

Plant Based Antioxidants

High Concentrated Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil

This will give you your the Omega 3 fatty acids which are very important to the health of each cell in out body. High levels of the omega 3 fatty acids in our diet or by supplementation is associated with nearly 50% reduced risk of having a heart attack or stroke. They also have an anti-inflammatory effect and are very important in the functioning of out brain.

Fish Oil, a Concentrated Plant Product and a Multivitamin/Mineral Formula

How the Book is Organized

As I mentioned before, this book is organized in a way that makes it easy to find all the information you need. Not only does it make reference to many of the common ailments in an easy to access alphabetical order, but it also has sections for general health and how our body systems interact with each other.

Below I give a summary of the 3 sections of the book.

Part One: The Four Cornerstones of Good Health

The first part of the book is dedicated to the four cornerstones of good health.

According to the authors these are:

A positive mental attitude

A healthy lifestyle shows

A health-promoting diet

Supplementary measures

There is a lot of valuable information in this section, that would benefit anyone, even perfectly healthy people.

Part One: Enhancing Key Body Systems

This next section again contains information that is valuable to everyone. You will find a lot in his section that you can implement to improve how your liveliness and energy from day to day.

The section is divided into the following areas:

Heart and Cardiovascular Health

Detoxification

Digestion and Elimination

Immune Support

Longevity and Life Extension

Stress Management

Part 3: Specific Health Problems

This forms the bulk of the book, it goes into the details of many health problems, and provides natural solutions to them- Health issues are arranged in alphabetical order, starting with Acne and ending with Varicose Veins, altogether 75 ailments are covered.

I like the alphabetical order as it makes it very easy to look up ailments.

I would certainly recommend naturopathy and holistic medicine if a patient is ready to accept the benefits and try them. Most of the methods are harmless and do not have any side effects. Having said that, I feel more study has to go into this field so that people embrace it openly.